Paris revisited.

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For the umpteenth time,  we have returned to Paris. This time we've exchanged our house with a Parisian family living smack in the middle of my personal heaven: the garment district on the slopes of the Montmartre.

I can every morning pop down to the shops and look through masses of rolls of beautiful silk, flowery pieces of cotton or just any pattern I like. I imagine myself making a dress, a silk pajama, a pair of trousers. All the things I didn’t make of the lots of fabric I bought last summer.

As a bonus, my favorite Parisian consignment boutiques are just a few minutes away. The very nice Chinemachine in Rue de Martyrs (www.chinemachinevintage.com ) being a favorite. I also visit the much more scrappy Guerrisol ( www.guerrisol.fr) and Emmaüs boutiques (www.emmaus-paris.fr ), where you can dig through mud and come up with pure gold

Just the last few days, I have located a beautiful Cacharel shirt, a silk dress, a long green robe, some t-shirts and a linen top - and the hunt continues!



But above all, living in this wonderful area, you can just climb the staircases leading all the way up to Sacre Coeur and then stroll down the beautiful, secluded streets below Place du Tertre, following in the footsteps of Matisse, Van Gogh, Suzanne Valadon,  Modigliani.

Perhaps visiting a good bakery or the favorite cafe, where we often go for our morning coffee and a pain au chocolat.


Or I can even just stay in, while Michael is exploring the world. I can spend hours sitting at the bannister of  the small balcony, doing a bit of water coloring, looking at the rooftop flats across the street, dreaming about having a permanent address here in the city of cities.

I just this morning watched the old couple, who owns the curtain-and-sheet shop down on the corner, put out their stock, arguing about the placement of the different assortments. Madame was pointing and Monsieur pushing the carts in the direction of the pointing finger. It took a while to get everything placed perfectly right even though they must have been doing just that every single morning for the last forty years.

 
Madame and monsieur - every thing is in place for yet another day


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